The Bird And The Bee

Since forming in 2005, The Bird And The Bee have brought a breezy elegance to their music, putting their own idiosyncratic twist on time-bending indie-pop. When we last checked in with the duo, they had just presented the dreamlike and dance-heavy album Recreational Love. Since that triumph, vocalist Inara George has released a solo album (Dearest Everybody) and started the Release Me record label (which has released music from Alex Lilly), while producer and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin has continued his Grammy-amassing career making records with everyone from Beck to The Foo Fighters to Kendrick Lamar to Adele.

Now, The Bird And The Bee return with Interpreting the Masters Volume 2: A Tribute to Van Halen, a follow-up to their 2010 LP Interpreting the Masters Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall and John Oates. “When I want to listen to hard-rock music there’s still nothing that hits me like [Van Halen,]" says Kurstin. “Every time I hear them it takes me back to when I first found them on the radio, and it felt so dangerous to me — like they were from a whole other world. It would be so great if people who would never usually listen to Van Halen heard this record, and then ended up falling in love with them too.” The first advance single from the album, "Panama," was released this Spring, and the band has now followed it up with their take on "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love." The full length album arrives August 2 via No Expectations and Release Me Records, and it will exclusively cover the David Lee Roth-fronted era of VH. Fans can catch the band on a just-announced North American tour in August.

"Sounds like an entirely new song while still holding on the essence of Van Halen." -Mxdwn

"Their very unexpected new Van Halen cover could point the way forward. The pair turn 'Panama' from a huge ’80s rocker into a cute dance-pop song that somehow recalls both Michael Jackson and Imogen Heap." -Cover Me Songs